Charles W. Morgan is an American whaling ship built in 1841 that was active during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Ships of this type were used to harvest the blubber of whales for whale oil which was commonly used in lamps. Charles W. Morgan has served as a museum ship since the 1940s and is now an exhibit at the Mystic Seaport museum in Mystic, Connecticut. She is the world's oldest surviving merchant vessel, the only surviving wooden whaling ship from the 19th century American merchant fleet (of an estimated 2,700 built), and the second-oldest seaworthy vessel in the world after . Charles W. Morgan was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966. He chose Jethro and Zachariah Hillman's shipyard in New Bedford to construct a new ship.

Charles W. Morgan was outfitted at Rotch's Wharf for the next two months while preparations were made for her first voyage.

Experts have calculated the lifetime financial returns from Charles W. Morgan at over $1.4 Million.

Charles W. Morgan was used in several movies, including Miss Petticoats (1916), Down to the Sea in Ships (1922), and Java Head (1923).

Voyage summary

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Voyage !! Port !! Captain !! Departure !! Arrival !! Mainly operated in

|-

| 1 || New Bedford || Thomas A. Norton || September 6, 1841 || January 2, 1845 || Pacific

|-

| 2 || New Bedford || J.D. Samson || June 10, 1845 || December 9, 1848 || Pacific

|-

| 3 || New Bedford || J.D. Samson || June 5, 1849 || May 27, 1853 || Pacific

|-

| 4 || New Bedford || Tristram P. Ripley || September 20, 1853 || April 27, 1856 || North Pacific

|-

| 5 || New Bedford || Thomas N. Fisher || September 15, 1856 || April 16, 1859 || North Pacific

|-

| 6 || New Bedford || James. A. Hamilton || October 4, 1859 || May 12, 1863 || North Pacific

|-

| 7 || New Bedford || Thomas C. Landers || December 1, 1863 || June 12, 1867 || North Pacific

|-

| 8 || New Bedford || George Athearn || July 17, 1867 || August 16, 1871 || Pacific

|-

| 9 || New Bedford || John M. Tinkham || September 26, 1871 || October 31, 1874 || Indian

|-

| 10 || New Bedford || John M. Tinkham || April 23, 1875 || May 17, 1878 || Atlantic

|-

| 11 || New Bedford || Thomas L. Ellis || July 17, 1878 || May 11, 1881 || Atlantic

|-

| 12 || New Bedford || Charles F. Keith || July 13, 1881 || Jun 17, 1886 || Pacific

|-

| 13 || New Bedford || George A. Smith || October 6, 1886 || November 4, 1887 || North Pacific

|-

| 14 || San Francisco || George A. Smith || December 3, 1887 || November 5, 1888 || North Pacific

|-

| 15 || San Francisco || John S. Layton || November 26, 1888 || October 27, 1889 || North Pacific

|-

| 16 || San Francisco || John S. Layton || December 5, 1889 || November 8, 1890 || Japan and Okhotsk

|-

| 17 || San Francisco || J. A. M. Earle || December 2, 1890 || October 31, 1891 || Japan and Okhotsk

|-

| 18 || San Francisco || J. A. M. Earle || November 24, 1891 || November 7, 1892 || Japan and Okhotsk

|-

| 19 || San Francisco || J. A. M. Earle || December 8, 1892 || November 9, 1893 || Japan and Okhotsk

|-

| 20 || San Francisco || J. A. M. Earle || December 6, 1893 || November 5, 1895 || Japan and Okhotsk

|-

| 21 || San Francisco || J. A. M. Earle || December 2, 1895 || November 1, 1896 || Pacific

|-

| 22 || San Francisco || John S. Layton || December 3, 1896 || October 25, 1897 || Pacific

|-

| 23 || San Francisco || Thomas Scullion || November 11, 1897 || October 28, 1898 || Japan and Okhotsk

|-

| 24 || San Francisco || Thomas Scullion || November 26, 1898 || November 2, 1899 || Japan and Okhotsk

|-

| 25 || San Francisco || Thomas Scullion || December 7, 1899 || October 29, 1900 || Japan and Okhotsk

|-

| 26 || San Francisco || J. A. M. Earle || November 22, 1900 || October 29, 1901 || Japan and Okhotsk

|-

| 27 || San Francisco || Thomas Scullion || November 27, 1901 || October 28, 1902 || Japan and Okhotsk

|-

| 28 || San Francisco || J. A. M. Earle || November 20, 1902 || October 27, 1903 || Japan and Okhotsk

|-

| 29 || San Francisco || J. A. M. Earle || November 18, 1903 || October 31, 1904 || Japan and Okhotsk

|-

| 30 || San Francisco || Edwin J. Reed || November 25, 1904 || June 12, 1906 || South Pacific

|-

| 31 || New Bedford || J. A. M. Earle, <br/> Hiram Nye || August 11, 1906 || July 4, 1908 || Atlantic

|-

| 32 || New Bedford || A. O. Gibbons, <br/> Charles S. Church || September 2, 1908 || September 12, 1910 || Atlantic

|-

| 33 || New Bedford || Charles S. Church || May 10, 1911 || August 9, 1913 || Atlantic

|-

| 34 || New Bedford || Benjamin D. Cleveland || September 5, 1916 || October 23, 1917 || Atlantic

|-

| 35 || New Bedford || James Edwards || July 16, 1918 || September 7, 1919 || Atlantic

|-

| 36 || New Bedford || James Edwards || October 18, 1919 || July 16, 1920 || Atlantic

|-

| 37 || Provincetown || J. Gonsalves || September 9, 1920 || May 28, 1921 || Atlantic

|-

| 38* || New Bedford || George Fred Tilton || May 7, 1925 || May 7, 1925 ||

|-

| 39* || Fairhaven || William H. Tripp || November 5, 1941 || November 8, 1941 ||

|-

|}

Preservation

Charles W. Morgan was nearly destroyed in 1924 when the steamer Sankaty caught fire and broke free of her mooring lines. The burning Sankaty drifted into Morgans port quarter, but the Fairhaven firemen managed to save her.

She was towed to the old berth in Fairhaven for several days of preparations and repairs before the trip to Mystic. In 1971, Melbourne Brindle of Bridgeport, Connecticut, designed four commemorative stamps of historic landmarks including the Morgan.

For the first 30 years at Mystic Seaport, she was surrounded by a bed of sand to prevent her from sinking. Even so, she was open to the public and was the centerpiece of a recreated 19th century maritime village museum inspired by Colonial Williamsburg. She is the only preserved 19th century whaling ship in the world.

The Mystic Seaport undertook a restoration and preservation project in 1968 to make her seaworthy, and the sand bed was removed. Prior to the 1968 restoration, she had a wide white stripe painted on her sides with large black squares that resembled gun ports when viewed at a distance. This "camouflage" was often employed by 19th century merchant ships to make them resemble warships so as to deter pirates and hostile navies.

In 2010, Mystic Seaport engaged in a multimillion-dollar project to restore the ship to seaworthy status. She was re-launched into the Mystic River on July 21, 2013, marking the 172nd anniversary of the vessel's initial launch. During the summer of 2014, she sailed her 38th voyage on tour of New England seaports which included New London, Connecticut, Newport, Rhode Island, Boston, and her home town of New Bedford, Massachusetts.

thumb|right|1971 U.S. commemorative stamp honoring Charles W. Morgan by [[Melbourne Brindle]]

See also

  • List of National Historic Landmarks in Connecticut
  • National Register of Historic Places listings in New London County, Connecticut
  • List of museum ships

Other preserved 19th-century sailing ships:

  • USS Constitution
  • USS Niagara
  • USS Constellation
  • Cutty Sark
  • Effie M. Morrissey / Ernestina
  • Coronet

References

  • Deck prisms on the Charles W. Morgan